Leo Taylor
REGISTERED
I ran into an interesting fire code application and want to see if I can find a specific code in the IBC, NFPA 80 or elsewhere. Typically for access control we install Fail-Secure locks except in certain situations. Stairwell doors for example. From the inside the stairwell door ALWAYS allow free egress but are locked to prevent ingress from the stairs unless accessed via a key or access card. For those we install Fail-Safe positive latching. Eg. a lever lock that unlocks upon fire alarm activation, but the door stays latched so the fire cannot blow a door open and enter the stairwell. (NO Fail Safe Strikes, otherwise the doors open by simply pulling or pushing)
The situation I ran into was whether or not that philosophy or code application applies to ALL doors in a fire path. It is my understanding that fire doors on an exit path must always allow free egress towards the exit signs; that is easy to determine by following the signs and seeing which way they point. But do these doors also have to unlock on fire to allow ingress into a space even when that space does not have a fire exit?
That seemed odd to me for a few reasons. Firstly, if this was an HR office for example we wouldn't expect the door to have to unlock. While it is a bit different for a fire path it isn't much different. For example: a hallway leading from employee bathrooms and perhaps a maintenance room. Sure the door opens into a hallway, and that door is on an exit path, but only from the restrooms' outward. I don't see why that would need to unlock to allow people into the hallway where there is no exit.
The other reason I don't see why this would be necessary is that access control is an add-on. A lot of current doors are mechanically locked with keys. It isn't as if the Fire Marshalls are demanding all that hardware be made electronic to allow ingress. The other reason I heard years ago is simple. When has a fireman ever gone into a building without an axe? If they need in they will get in.... Stairwell doors I understand. The idea is that people fleeing a fire can head downstairs and then cut across the building to the other stairs or exit paths if the current path is blocked. That only works if the stair doors are unlocked to allow people to move from one stairway to another. That would not be the case on a fire path where ingress would only trap people in an area with no exit. They would have to exit the way they came in.
The situation I ran into was whether or not that philosophy or code application applies to ALL doors in a fire path. It is my understanding that fire doors on an exit path must always allow free egress towards the exit signs; that is easy to determine by following the signs and seeing which way they point. But do these doors also have to unlock on fire to allow ingress into a space even when that space does not have a fire exit?
That seemed odd to me for a few reasons. Firstly, if this was an HR office for example we wouldn't expect the door to have to unlock. While it is a bit different for a fire path it isn't much different. For example: a hallway leading from employee bathrooms and perhaps a maintenance room. Sure the door opens into a hallway, and that door is on an exit path, but only from the restrooms' outward. I don't see why that would need to unlock to allow people into the hallway where there is no exit.
The other reason I don't see why this would be necessary is that access control is an add-on. A lot of current doors are mechanically locked with keys. It isn't as if the Fire Marshalls are demanding all that hardware be made electronic to allow ingress. The other reason I heard years ago is simple. When has a fireman ever gone into a building without an axe? If they need in they will get in.... Stairwell doors I understand. The idea is that people fleeing a fire can head downstairs and then cut across the building to the other stairs or exit paths if the current path is blocked. That only works if the stair doors are unlocked to allow people to move from one stairway to another. That would not be the case on a fire path where ingress would only trap people in an area with no exit. They would have to exit the way they came in.